Four Violet Reviews: Practical Critical Thinking ~ REVIEW

I'm almost finished with Reviews for 2015, just 2 more to go. This is one of those products I would have Loved having as a child. The Critical Thinking Co. generously gave us the opportunity to use their Practical Critical Thinking ($39.99) and Teacher Manual ($14.99) to use and Review. It was like an early Christmas present to me seriously. Honestly Mahala was feeling a bit worried as she pulled out 2 HUGE 370+ page books. But, once she looked through some of the lessons and activities her heavy breathing returned back to normal.

I've admitted before that I had struggles in school, especially Math. But, I always valued the art of learning no matter how difficult school became for me. And I learned early on that you have to use what you do know to try and figure out what you don't! One thing that we have always done in our homeschool is workbooks filled with puzzles, word problems and short mystery/cases to solve. Critical Thinking produces Independent Thinkers....isn't that what we see in most Homeschoolers?

This workbook is divided into 4 Units with 2 Chapter within a Unit and each Chapter has up to 11 Lessons. In the Practical Critical Thinking workbook you will find these Unit Titles.

Becoming a Critical Thinker

Adding to My Critical Thinking Toolbox

Critical Thinking and Arguments

Applying My Critical Thinking

Keeping things Fun and Interesting is key to learning a new skill or working on one that you have already gained. Mastery doesn't have to be boring and routine. In their workbooks your Kiddos will get to explore a wide range of activities that require critical thinking peppered throughout the workbook like the following:

Prediction Time- Here they get to jiggle their brain to try and figure out what's coming up in the lesson.

Student Polls- This is sort of self explanatory....our whole Family took part in the polls, even a few unexpected guests. :)

Thought Experiments- These also get that Brain Muscle pumping....thinking in ways you don't normally think makes a mushy brain strong(Kaden says)!

Group Activities- can be done with a group or solo, Mahala did most of hers by herself, but we did do some of ours together.

Since this is geared towards High School aged Kiddos I mainly did this with Mahala, who is in the 10th grade. I did though have Kaden participate in a lot of the activities. He is very Logic based, so this is something I think he would really benefit from. Mahala, like I said earlier was a little worried because the workbook is so big. But, after a few days I noticed when I came downstairs for my morning coffee she was normally working on it first thing. So, I would say probably 4 days a week she would complete a lesson. She found that the lessons were doable chunks, not too long or repetitive. I think it's perfectly recommended for grades 9-12th.

The Teacher's Manual is in black and white unlike the actual workbook that has color. I love that the Teacher's Manual gives the answer and goes into a little extra explanation. It was simple and easy to use. Everything in clear cut, I hate when I can't figure out a Teacher's Manual or when the answers are easily understood. It's not necessary to have the Teacher's Manual, but I'm thankful to have it. On top of all Mahala's work load it was nice to have the answers readily available.

So, what did we think of the Practical Critical Thinking workbook? I Loved it, we loved it. Mahala and I both thought that it was straightforward and interesting from the get go. I honestly didn't know I needed this specific product until I was presented with it. The Critical Thinking Co. have several other products that I can't wait to get into the hands of my Kiddos. All of their products I've looked into are affordable. And if they are anything like the Practical Critical Thinking workbook then you can add High Quality product too. I can't think of a reason to not offer this product to your High School Kiddos, go check it out and let me know what you think!!!